Description: Wrought and seamed silver coffeepot; round in plan with straight sides, seamed under the handle; tapered from applied, molded footring to applied waved band around the lip; hinged, molded domed lid with a scrolled rat-tail thumbpiece applied to the hinge and an applied, turned knop finial; s-curve spout, at a right angle to the handle, with a tapered wave pendent at the lip; oval joint between body and spout; round hinged spout cover; cylindrical handle sockets with oval body joints, fitted with a s-scroll wooden handle; engraved in the front center with the Robinson-Buckle family arms, a circle split with chevrons dividing each half in two; on the left chevron has three fleur-de-lis with two stags above and one below (Robinson); on the right, a plain chevron with two garlands above and one below (Buckle); all surrounded by a scrolled cartouche with an angel's bust at the base; stag engraved above, and a banner engraved, "PROPERE ET PROVIDE" (Robinson) below; maker's marks on either side of the handle, below lid.

Marks: Mark stamped twice at either side of top handle socket: "P. V. D" in oval surround; mark scratched deeply on base: "-33-ons-7-p-" [note: mark consistent with Van Dyck from 1715-1748]; inscription engraved at front center: the Robinson-Buckle family arms, a circle split with chevrons dividing each half in two; on the left chevron has three fleur-de-lis with two stags above and one below (Robinson); on the right, a plain chevron with two garlands above and one below (Buckle); all surrounded by a scrolled cartouche with an angle's bust at the base; stag engraved above, and a banner engraved, "PROPERE ET PROVIDE" (Robinson) below

Gallery Label:

Crafted by silversmith Peter Van Dyck, this lighthouse-shaped coffeepot, with tall tapered body, high domed lid, and handle oriented at a right angle to the spout, is modeled directly after London prototypes made between 1700 and 1720. According to family history, it was owned by Beverley Robinson and his wife, Susannah Philipse, staunch Loyalists. In 1779, when the New York Legislature confiscated their extensive land holdings, the couple fled to England, bringing the coffeepot with them. Passed down through the family in England for nearly two centuries, the coffeepot returned to the United States when a Robinson descendent consigned the coffeepot to a London dealer around 1930, and, in a serendipitous transaction, it was purchased by Beverley R. Robinson (1876-1951), a New York attorney and collateral descendant of the Loyalist. The engraved coat of arms was added in 1837 for the marriage of Colonel Robinson's grandson William Henry Robinson to Georgiana Buckle, daughter of the prominent naval commander Rear Admiral Mathew Buckle.

Provenance:

[Possible descent: Frederick Philipse (1698-1751), who married Joanna Brockholst (1700-1765); to their daughter Susannah Philipse (1727-1822), who married Beverley Robinson (1723-1792); to their son William Henry Robinson (1765-1836), who married Catherine Skinner (1768-1843)]; to their son William Henry Robinson (1800-1858), who married Georgiana Buckle (1806-1903); to their daughter Henrietta Charlotte Robinson (1842-1923), who married Alfred Wright Surtees (1820-1906); to their son Henry Patrick Surtees (1868-after 1928); consigned by Surtees to Crichton Brothers, London, ca. 1930; sold to Beverley R. Robinson (1876-1951); to his niece Anna Glen Butler (1917-2005), who married Alexander O. Vietor (1913-1981), the donors.

Krohn, Deborah, Peter Miller, and Marybeth De Filippis, eds., "Dutch New York Between East and West: The World of Margrieta van Varick." New York: Bard Graduate Center, New-York Historical Society, New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2009, p. 322-3